The period in his name symbolizes a hard stop in his life, a fork in the road and a chance to overcome.
Up until a serious car accident five years ago, Tre. Charles never considered himself much of a musician. The truth is he was working in the food industry, trying to pursue a career as a general manager for a restaurant chain.
But with the horrifying screech of brakes grinding against rotors, everything changed quite suddenly.
“I was working a job out in Florida and I got into a car accident,” Charles said. “It was the last day of training and I was going to be moving up to Nashville. Basically I was training to be a restaurant general manager for Cracker Barrel’s millennial imprint called Holler and Dash. But I got in the accident and basically sitting in the wreckage thinking I don’t know if I want to do this because life could be over so quick. It wasn’t necessarily making me happy so I might as well go for what I believe in. At that moment I chose to do music.”
During that moment of clarity, Charles didn’t even know if he would walk again, sustaining several breaks in his legs and suffering pretty significant ligament damage.
“After the accident, I couldn’t walk for six months,” Charles said. “It came with a lot of reflection. They were saying I might not walk again. It was bleak. But I started playing my guitar.”
There was one other obstacle: He didn’t actually know how to play guitar. But that wasn’t going to stop him.
“I started teaching myself songs and chords,” Charles said. “I knew some stuff but not a lot. I went to YouTube University to teach myself some of this stuff. I had lost my job and didn’t have money so I couldn’t find someone to teach me. But throughout that process, it became a therapeutic thing. I would just play a song that I like and do it in my own rendition.”
Now he plays songs a lot of other people like.
Over the last five years, Charles started playing shows all along the East Coast, with Philadelphia being a frequent stop. Charles is originally from Upstate New York and calls Durham, North Carolina his temporary home. But he’s been on the road most of his life and has several ties to South Philly.
Charles will be one of the featured musical artists this season at Magic Gardens’ popular Twilight in the Gardens series. He will perform on July 26 and tickets can be found at https://www.phillymagicgardens.org/.
Twilight in the Gardens takes place on the fourth Friday of the month at 7 p.m. The live music performances take place outdoors at the iconic Magic Gardens at 1020 South St.
“The guys at Cuzzy’s Ice Cream and P’s and Q’s Clothing Store were telling people about my set and how it centers around my personal mental health journey,” Charles said. “They thought Magic Gardens would be a perfect venue for something like that.”
Twilight in the Gardens is a laid-back venue that allows musical acts to set their own vibe in the beautiful outdoor setting. Each monthly performance pairs a teaching artist with a musical act. The July 26 Twilight in the Gardens will combine the music of Tre. Charles with teaching artist Sar.
Guests are encouraged to “BYOBBS” (Bring Your Own Booze, Blanket and Snacks) to get comfortable and picnic in the mosaicked labyrinth. Each event is unique and encompasses a variety of musical genres and art experiences. Charles’ night will showcase his melodic guitar picking and soothing, echoing voice, which tells stories over his mental health and pivotal journey. That journey has led Charles through the streets of South Philly so many times.
“The road life had helped me cultivate communities along the road,” he said. “I’m finding my communities wherever I go and South Philly is definitely the community I rock with. I’ve played in Germantown and Fishtown and Center City but South Philly is where I stay. I always go to Angelo’s and Ox Coffee. And I try to go to shows at the Theatre of Living Arts when I’m in town.”
Some of his shows outside of Philadelphia have been alongside popular acts like hiphop groups Digable Planets and Arrested Development.
“I guess I’m sort of on this ’90s hiphop thing right now,” Charles said with a laugh. “I played with Digable Planets last week. But it made sense the way they were talking about it. They said their music was kind of conscious and against the grain of what stereotypical pop music was at the time. They were saying I was like the new wave of black music right now. I was like, I’ll take that. It was a surreal feeling to be doing this.”
Whether playing with others, or going solo, Charles finds comfort in playing special settings. Although he’s never played Magic Gardens, he’s quite familiar with the venue.
“I like the immersiveness of Magic Gardens,” Charles said. “I try to make my music cinematic and immersive. I try to take you out of what you’re in at that moment and put you in a place. Magic Gardens kind of transforms you from this cityscape to a completely mystical type of garden with creativity at its peak. There’s such attention to detail with the mosaics. It feels symmetrical to what I do.”
